One I missed – a whole new sort of pylon for the UK

I had no idea that National Grid has installed a new sort of pylon – T-pylons, all the way back in 2021/22 in Somerset.

There are 36 of them, rated at 400kV, between Bridgwater and Loxton in Somerset, part of the 57km Hinkley Connection Project, which also has 8.5km of underground cables across the Mendip Hills (from which all existing pylons will be removed).

In total, 116 T-pylons have been strung on the whole route, holding up 1,288 tonnes of overhead conductor.

National Grid put out some facts and figures alongside the T-pylon photo:

The lattice pylon was the winning entry in a 1927 pylon design competition ran by the Central Electricity Board.
There are ~22,000 pylons stretching 7.7Mm* (4.3kmiles**) of high-voltage overhead lines in England and Wales.
As well as pylons, the high voltage network has 4,500 miles of overhead line, 1,500 miles of underground cable and 350 substations.

And National Gind in 2023 said “£20 of the average annual household bill goes toward operating and maintaining the electricity transmission network” – bargain, I feel.

The Hinkley Connection Project connects Bridgwater with Seabank near Avonmouth to carry power from Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, among other sources. Part of the project removes 67km of overhead wires and 249 pylons from Somerset.

Across the Mendips, the 400kV underground cables are laid in four cable trenches ~2m x 1.8m deep, a few metres apart. The prosaically named ‘Loxton Cable Sealing End’, next to the M5, is where the T-pylons meet the underground cables

The Hinkley Connection Project contractors are:
Balfour Beatty – 400kV overhead lines and cables
Siemens Energy – Sandford substation
J Murphy and Sons – 132kV cables
Morrison Energy Services – Shurton overhead line entries, Linxon-Shurton substation

*In Wonderland, we use the more sensible megametre

**and the denizens claim to have a sense of humour